Tag Archives: celebrity

Brands work tirelessly to create strong emotional and truthful connections with their audience. Because consumers connect well with celebrities on an emotional level, brands should select celebrities who carry a recognizable, authentic and credible demeanor.

As social media continues to become a window into the lives of celebrities, brands must work diligently to ensure that their celebrity partner promotes the same authenticity as the brand. Consumers frequently hold the expectation that brands will do more than simply sell a product, but rather work hard to create a trusting atmosphere.

To establish that trusting atmosphere, brands should partner with the right celebrities who can help promote products in the most natural and truthful way.

For instance, blatant and obvious brand advertisements posted on celebrities’ social media accounts do not create strong emotional ties. Consumers see right through these branded endorsements and keep scrolling. However, celebrity postings that integrate a brand’s product organically and convincingly will catch consumers’ attention.

For example, professional basketball player, Kevin Durant, built his relationship with Sparkling Ice on authenticity. Durant, a real life consumer of the zero-calorie carbonated water, was interested in a partnership with the company. As soon as Sparkling Ice caught wind of the Durant’s inquiry, they knew their sponsorship relationship would be a success because their bond was built on genuine, demonstrated interest.

Celebrity and influencer marketing has been rated as the fastest-growing way to grab online customers. Despite this success, marketers need to continually ask questions as the consumer landscape evolves.

What does our consumer base care about? How should we align the brand with those causes? What channels will have the strongest influence?

Although the answers to these three questions are not the same, all three answers address the same topic of authenticity. As brands have the opportunity to connect with consumers, they need to invest in the celebrity who best matches their beliefs as well as their audience.

In adopting the use of celebrity marketing, authenticity and transparency are critical. As information is more readily available in today’s social media landscape, consumers are not afraid to look beneath the surface and confirm that brands are using celebrities with credibility.

Brands grab the attention of children and adolescents by using pro athletes they idolize for endorsements.

Children are encouraged to “dream big,” and for many of them, that big dream is to one day be a professional athlete. Many kids keep this dream long into adolescence and spend their entire childhood embracing their fandom of these big name athletes. Kids see athletes as super heroes and role models who embody what they hope to accomplish when they grow up.

With that, kids put an enormous amount of weight into what pro athletes say and how they behave. This provides brands with an opportunity to tie their brand to an athlete and reach the youth market.

Perhaps the most iconic of all athlete endorsements belongs to Wheaties Cereal. Since they first partnered with professional baseball in the 1930s, Wheaties has partnered with top athletes to identify itself as the food brand to fuel your body. Children for generations have looked to Wheaties and seen their favorite sports stars grace the front of the box, picking up the product in hopes of achieving the same heights as those pictured.

Another way to effectively reach the youth market with sports celebrities is by having them use the product themselves.

Gatorade used pro athletes to inspire kids and reinforce the idea that they can grow up to be anything they want if they work hard. In their ad campaign Never Lose the Love, they feature Usain Bolt and Serena Williams being cheered on by their younger selves.

By showing kids in the ad, Gatorade is able to relate to children and show them that by drinking Gatorade like these athletes, they one day too can reach the same success.

Even brands that don’t come to mind when thinking of sports can leverage pro athletes. The toy brand Little Tikes used pro athlete Lebron James to reach young aspiring athletes by integrating him into their products and brand.

Little Tikes boasts that LeBron got his start on a Little Tikes hoop and now kids can too. Little Tikes has a range of different products with LeBron’s name and picture. The official partnership is between the brand and the LeBron James Family Foundation, which has a mission to better the lives of children and young adults.

By literally using the face of LeBron James on their products, Little Tikes is able to reach and have an impression on kids who look up to LeBron and want to take the same steps he has taken to success.

Campaigns reach maximum effectiveness when placed on the social channel that best fits a brand’s goal.

Brands of all sizes and industries have stepped up their use of influencer marketing because of its ability to reach consumers in a genuine and valuable way. Research done by Linqia.com shows that 86% percent of marketers used the tactic in 2016.

Undoubtedly successful, influencer campaigns placed with the right social channel allow brands to optimize their spend. The decision of which social channel to use depends on the broad goal of the campaign according to the points below.

Audience

Depending on which consumer the campaign targets, one social channel may be better than another. With the extent social networks are integrating into daily lives, people of a variety of characteristics and lifestyles are active on any given channel. However, some channels are still better than others for reaching a certain demographic. Some channels, like Instagram and Snapchat, are used more heavily among millennials while others, like Facebook, are more frequently used by an older audience.

Stride gum used DJ Khaled to promote their Mad Intense Gum. They had DJ Khaled take over the brand’s Snapchat account for two days as a part of the campaign. By using Snapchat, they were able to reach the audience they intended.

Reach

If the goal is impressions and getting the brand seen by as many people as possible, the campaign is best placed on a channel conducive to that purpose. This will depend on the chosen influencer’s following on each channel. In general, Facebook and Instagram currently allow for the largest reach considering that they have the highest amount of active users.

With 121 million followers, Selena Gomez is one of the most followed accounts on Instagram. The fashion company Coach brought her on as a spokesperson in December 2016. She has posted multiple pictures with their products on her account, allowing Coach to reach millions of consumers.

Engagement

Engagement is a more powerful and intimate tool that focuses on getting consumers to take action. While reach can mean that they just saw an ad, engagement means they acknowledged it and interacted with it; usually by liking or commenting. When matching an influencer campaign with a social channel, choose the social channel where the influencer has the most dedicated and captivated following. Overall, Facebook and Instagram are good for engagement. Snapchat isn’t the best since the content isn’t likable or shareable.

Clinique for Men was able to generate a large level of engagement by partnering with influencers on Instagram. By using ten influencers across different demographics, the brand was able to achieve 3.8 times higher engagement than on their own account. Their products showed up on accounts including professional surfer and photographer Mikey DeTemple’s with 26,600 followers. A bigger influencer they partnered with was the lifestyle blogger and traveler Justin Livingston, with 246,000 followers.

In today’s digital era, influencer marketing is more popular than ever, and brands are starting to take innovative approaches.

Social media famous pets are beginning to integrate with brands, and in a cluttered media landscape, it can elevate companies above the rest. People create individual personalities and perspectives for their pets on social channels. Certain animals have huge followings and big brands are starting to look toward these pets to endorse products.

There are two of types of celebrity pets—the pets of famous people and pets that become famous themselves without a celebrity owner. One example of the former is Katy Perry’s Teacup Poodle, Nugget, who just landed a major campaign deal with Citi’s Double Cash credit card. An example of the latter is Nala, a cat with 3.4 million Instagram followers who has partnered with Friskies. Regardless of the type of celebrity pet, here are three reasons they can be great for brands.

Appeal

Positive feelings like comfort, love, and nostalgia are all strongly associated with animals. Ads that play to peoples’ emotions are very effective, and pets are a great way to use emotion to capture and maintain audience attention.

Celebrity endorsements can be made stronger by including the celebrity’s pet. This is an easy way for celebrities to be more relatable, for both those familiar and unfamiliar with the celebrity.

Content

Celebrity pet brand ambassadors generate authentic and unique content. Pets can add a lot of character to a message. A key to celebrity pet marketing is ensuring that it makes sense and works within the context. The execution has to be deliberate and meaningful in order for the campaign to be effective.

Brands whose products aren’t directly related to animals can still gain a lot from using them in campaigns, but they need to be clever and creative to deliver their message. A brand that did this well was Mercedes in their partnership with the Instagram famous Loki the Wolfdog, who has over 1.5 million followers. The ad got everything right, cleverly using a celebrity pet, and doing it in a creative way that made sense for the brand.

Engagement

Pets rule social media and are in the top ten most shared types of content on the web. People like to comment, share and tag their friends in posts with animals. Brands reach bigger social audiences by finding the right pet with a large social following and a creative campaign that people will be drawn to.

Overall, people love pets, and they are a safe choice with no controversy. Many brands have benefited by partnering with celebrity pets, and more brands should consider doing the same.

With dozens of social media apps to choose from, brands often centralize focus on which medium will maximize reach. While honing in on the right social platform is important, it is not the ‘be-all-end-all’ of social media success.

The key for social growth is having the ultimate content creator.

As the social media landscape evolves, so does the way that celebrities interact with their fans. The electronic band Gorillaz released a six-minute VR music video landing them an astounding 3 million views in 48 hours. While these innovative tactics to enhance fan experience are successful, it isn’t the medium that fans are drawn to.

It is what the artist does with this new technology that draws significant attention and increases their overall social value.

Many celebrities have a very specific personal brand, which presents the celebrity with an avid following that craves their thoughts. When a celebrity can build enough social credibility through their personal ideology and or niche interests, fans will follow wherever they post content.

For example, Ryan Seacrest is widely recognized for his on-screen charisma and overall positive energy, which directly translates to his social media accounts. Seacrest consistently posts inspirational notes across his social media handles, which garners significant fan interaction across the board. Being the media mogul that he is, Seacrest has 806,000+ Facebook followers, 3 million Instagram followers, and 16 million Twitter followers.

While his following on Twitter dwarfs the rest of his handles, fan interaction with his posts are fairly even across the board, due to his unique personal brand that he consistently promotes. Seacrest’s personality is extremely beneficial for media brands, which is largely why ABC signed him to co-host ‘Live with Kelly’. Thanks to Seacrest, the show is already experiencing significant rating bumps.

The same trend stands true for the social media influencer pool. When the video-sharing app Vine was discontinued, influencers were forced to translate their 6-second video fame to new platforms. Many famous Viners, such as Nicholas Megalis didn’t fully survive the transition, moving from 1.13 billion all-time Vine loops to a mere 35,000 YouTube following.

However, for Viner Ryan Bachelor (@KingBach), his own rendition of slapstick humor has enabled him to amass 16 million followers across all major social media platforms. Thanks to his unique take on comedy, his message to his following is effective regardless of platform. Bachelor can hop on his Snapchat story or tweet out a short video, and fans will still engage with the same enthusiasm as they had with Vine.

Brands such as Doritos and Brita have taken advantage of his massive following and have partnered with Bachelor to make their brands funny, relaxed, and relevant. Brands that partner with influencers give the talent an immense amount of creative control, which makes the branded message feel organic and not like a cold product placement.

For brands, now is not the time to spread thin across every available social platform. It’s time to focus on meaningful content produced by highly valued social content creators.

Exponentially increase traffic and engagement using five similar, yet different platforms.

Video content is becoming one of the best ways to share information online, as video is unparalleled in engaging an audience and getting their attention. When content is shared live, it only increases the benefits of video marketing.

Statistics show live video dramatically increases both traffic and engagement to a brand’s content. With video, organic traffic increases by 157%, and consumers become 85% more likely to buy a product and 46% more likely to seek out information about your brand. Live video is a great way to make your brand more personable and engaging.

In utilizing celebrities who are already bringing in a large, engaging audience on these platforms, your brand can expand its reach and create an even more unique experience for fans and consumers. You just have to make sure you’re picking the right platform for your brand.

1. Periscope was one of the first widely-used live streaming platforms, highlighting its ability to take audiences to places not shown to the public, such as music festivals, concerts or personal events. The app offers a couple ways for audiences to engage with the platform, such as live comments and giving ‘hearts’ to show appreciation. Since the app is owned by Twitter, it makes it easy for multi-platform sharing, reaching audiences on both Periscope and Twitter. These videos can be kept on the platform forever or deleted after 24 hours, whichever you prefer.

2. Facebook Live makes it easy to connect with Facebook audiences, as Facebook controls the reach of these live videos using the same algorithm it uses for regular posts. One unique thing about Facebook Live is that users can stream for up to four hours at a time, and videos remain on the platform to be retrieved or re-purposed for later use. Facebook Live is a great platform for celebrity marketing, as celebrity pages on Facebook often outperform brand pages, and Facebook recently signed deals with multiple media companies and celebrities to grow the platform’s popularity even further.

3. YouTube Live claims to be the fastest and most reliable live streaming platform, and was notably the first to offer 360-degree streaming. Since then, brands such as GoPro, Nike and Lionsgate have experimented with it. This platform is great to use with YouTube influencers, as they can broadcast directly to their subscribers, and the stream is made available immediately after the broadcast on the influencer’s channel and in subscription boxes. It is similar to creating a regular YouTube video, but with the added bonus of live engagement from the audience through comment features.

4. Snapchat, with its 78 million daily active users, is a unique type of live streaming platform. The app has been used by brands in a variety of ways, including celebrity takeovers, product placement and revealing exclusive content. The quick, ten-second clips and 24-hour lifespan of these videos allows for urgent and exclusive interactions with an audience. The addition of Multi-Snap, which allows users to continue a seamless recording in 10 second increments, adds to the authenticity and spontaneity of influencers’ messages. Plus, many celebrities already have their own accounts and large followings on this platform.

5. Twitch, a platform acquired by Amazon in 2014, has quickly become one of the most formidable streaming platforms on the internet, servicing 100 million users a month. Unlike other live streaming services, Twitch has become a jack of all trades. Companies have used the platform to distribute press releases, conduct community outreach, and provide hands on glimpses into new products. Personalities on the platform use broadcasts for both traditional and gaming purposes, opening up new possibilities for marketers to creatively advertise their brand. Because it now services up to half of the United States’ millennial male population, Twitch will be a coveted destination for marketing in any industry for the future.

No matter the platform, live streaming and celebrity marketing together are a great way for your brand to create exciting and engaging video content. Whether it’s special promotions, VIP access or every day moments, live streaming is great for brands to engage an audience in a new exciting way.

Confirm your “gut instincts” with quantitative data from those who matter most.

As mentioned in Part One, the process of choosing a celebrity for a marketing campaign is not simple. The Burns Celebrity Vault allows us to put together a list of viable celebrities, but once this list is created, we need a way to determine which celebrity may be best for a marketing campaign. In doing so, we can help to make sure the heavy price tag does not get wasted on someone who is relatively unfavorable or disliked.

An E-Score is a way to measure the relative marketing effectiveness of an individual celebrity. Essentially, this score allows us to determine how marketable a celebrity may be based on how he/she is viewed by the general public. Each celebrity is given a number based on their appeal, awareness and up to 46 different attributes. In using this number, we are able to compare a list of celebrities and see which is the most marketable.

First, a celebrity is measured based on their awareness. This is first divided between male, female and both, which allows you to see the difference in awareness based on gender. This could be extremely important if your campaign is directed towards a specific group of people.

Awareness is then further broken down into name, face and total. So for example, if you want to know how many males recognize Justin Bieber based solely on his face, E-Score can give you an exact percentage.

The second factor taken to account when calculating an E-Score is appeal, or how the respondent generally feels about the celebrity. This is broken down into six categories: like a lot, like, like somewhat, dislike somewhat, dislike and dislike a lot. Similarly to awareness, these are further broken down by name, face and total.

Through an algorithm, the awareness and appeal scores are weighted and then set against other celebrities to create the E-Score. In this way, the E-Score works like a percentage. If a celebrity has an E-Score of 98, they are in the 98th percentile.

E-Score also factors in attributes for each celebrity. Each respondent is given 46 different attributes and asked to choose any that relate to the celebrity in question. From there, we are able to get a better, more specific picture of how the celebrity is viewed.

For example, Taylor Swift’s top five attributes are talented, attractive, stylish, over-exposed and beautiful. Each attribute is given as a percentage to tell us how many respondents felt the celebrity possessed that attribute.

E-Scores should be used for two purposes: to confirm your formal list of viable celebrities and to guarantee your first choice will be agreeable to an audience and good to promote your brand. E-Score is a guideline to determine how people relate to the celebrity and whether or not this aligns with what your brand is trying to accomplish with the campaign.

While E-Scores can be extremely helpful, they are limited if you miss identifying ALL the potential celebrities within your budget. In many cases, a celebrity with a slightly lower score may be a better fit with your brand than one with an extremely high score. Just because a celebrity has a lower awareness or appeal does not necessarily mean they would be the wrong choice.

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I'm Bob Williams, CEO| Speaker | Author of The Brand Agent

The Brand Agent provides resources on how to build brands through celebrities, music and sports.

Celebrity marketing requires special knowledge and skills. My articles are intended to help save you time, money and frustration.

Over my career, I have led in negotiating thousands of celebrity contracts and helped match small and large brands with the right celebrity. I’m glad to share my celebrity marketing expertise with you.